The Headmaster's apprentice
by Lord Raihu
Summary: An attack from an enemy forces Dumbledore to take on Harry as an apprentice. Watch as Harry grows from a normal student to the greatest Sorcerer in history.
1. The Sorting begins

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 1: The Sorting begins

"Now, form a line," The stern Professor told the first-years, "and follow me."

Harry swallowed nervously and his legs felt like they were covered in lead. Harry got into the line behind a boy with sandy hair and Ron, the boy Harry had met on the train, took the place behind him. The line began to move and they walked out of the chamber, across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Harry blinked rapidly. He'd never seen such a strange yet wonderful place. It was lit by several thousands candles which were floating over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. The tables were laid with golden plates and goblets but Harry saw no food or drinks on the tables. Harry focused on the top of the Hall where there was another long table. That table was filled by what Harry assumed was the staff of Hogwarts. The stern Professor, McGonagall, led Harry and the rest of the first-years up there, and turned them around so that the faced all the students and had the Professors behind their backs.

It was first now that Harry noticed the ceiling. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the weather outside and he smiled widely for the first time since entering the Great Hall. "I love magic," he muttered and apparently many agreed with him considering the many "aww" and "ooh" he heard from both behind and in front of him.

Harry looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them. She then placed a rather patched and dirty hat on the stool. _Aunt Petunia would never let that hat into the house even if someone would point a gun at her_ Harry fought back a snort at his sudden thought.

Harry glanced around the Hall and noticed that most, if not all, of the students were staring at the as if it would make a magic trick or burst into a song. There was complete silent for a few seconds before the hat suddenly twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide just like a mouth, and then, to Harry's great shock and amusement, began to sing. _Wonder if I'm a seer_. Harry had to bit his lower lip to stop a laugh from escaping.

 _Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You may belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve and chivalry_

 _set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folks use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hand (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a thinking cap!_

The whole Hall burst into a hell of an applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed gracefully to each of the four tables and then became still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Harry heard Ron whisper to him. "I'll kill Fred, he was raving about the test being about wrestling an adult troll," Harry snorted. Did Ron really believe the staff would let eleven years old children wrestling a troll?

Harry grimaced as it felt as if he had thousands of butterflies in his stomach. He wasn't brave nor smart. And did he have an ounce of cunning inside him? Harry wondered if the hat would sort him in Hufflepuff or maybe even send him back to Privet Drive.

Harry's uneasy thoughts stopped when Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," She said loudly and called out the first name. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line, put on the hat and sat down. A few seconds later and the rip opened again on the hat.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted and the table on the right cheered and clapped as the girl happily sat down at the Hufflepuff table. The Hufflepuff ghost waved merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!" A red-haired girl tried to appear confident but you could still see in her eyes that she was quite nervous. The hat needed only a few seconds to make its decision once again.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The red-headed smiled timidly and sat down next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!" Was the first to join the House of wit and learning. The table second from the left clapped this time. Several students stood up to shake hands with the brown-haired pre-teen.

A girl named Mandy Brocklehurst also went to the Claws. And then it time for the home of the Brave to finally get their first member. A cute blonde-haired girl named Lavender Brown was sorted into Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers. Harry heard Ron sigh when his twin brothers began to catcall. Harry also heard Professor McGonagall sigh heavily.

"Bullstode, Milicent!" A huge girl became a Slytherin member. Harry thought back to what both Hagrid and Ron had said about Slytherin and he couldn't help but think that they looked an unpleasant lot.

Vincent Crabbe, a rather unpleasant boy Harry met in the train, was quickly sorted into the House of the snakes.

Harry was beginning to feel sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during sport lessons at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen. Not because of his short length, or that he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked Harry.

"Granger, Hermione!" Harry startled awake. He had missed quiet a few sorting because of his negative remembrance. The bushy-haired girl that had irritated Harry with her know-it-all attitude in the train ran to the stool. She jammed the hat onto her head eagerly. The hat spent nearly four minutes trying to sort her into a house. Ron groaned out loudly when the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" at last.

"Greengrass, Daphne!" A blonde-haired girl walked confidently to the stool. Harry noticed that she was the first new student to not show any emotions, neither good or bad, on the way to the hat. She was sorted into Slytherin but didn't even allow a small smile on her way to her new friends. Harry wondered how she could be so cool when he was a nervous wreck.

"Longbottom, Neville!" beat Hermione's record with nearly thirty seconds before he was sorted into Gryffindor. Harry laughed, and released some of his tension, when Neville ran of with the hat still on his head. The boy blushed heavily when he had to run back to the stool.

"MacDougal, Morag!" was quickly sorted into Ravenclaw and now it was time for Draco Malfoy. The blonde tosser, that reminded Harry of his cousin, walked arrogantly to the stool while loudly proclaimed that he would be sorted into Slytherin, the greatest house of all. Three of four tables began to boo loudly while the fourth merely basked in silence.

But the sorting was not something Malfoy would remember with pride. Malfoy spent nearly five minutes of arguing with the hat before he was allowed to join Slytherin. He was sporting a fine purple colour, something uncle Vernon would be proud of, when he finally slid down onto the wooden bench.

There wasn't many people left now. "Moon!" … "Nott!" … "Parkinson!" was quickly sorted before it was time for a twin pair. "Patil, Padma!" was sorted into Ravenclaw while her twin Parvati happily skipped of to join Lavender in Gryffindor. "Perks, Sally-Anne!" joined Hufflepuff and then, at last –

"Potter, Harry!" Time for showdown.

Harry stepped forward and ignored the furious whisper and gossip that spread through the Hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

"The Boy-who-lived?"

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the Hall full of people craning to get a good look at him.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "First, thank your for you compliment. I worked nearly a year on that song and you are the first one to think that I've a nice song voice. But now time for your sorting. It's difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, even if you don't see it. Not a bad mind either. But not enough to sort into Ravenclaw, I'm afraid. But you're hard-working and you've a nice thirst to prove yourself. So... Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Slytherin... what you say, young Harry?"

"I'm allowed to choose?" Harry was stunned. No one had said anything about being allowed to choose. "In that case, no Slytherin, please and thank you!"

"Not Slytherin, eh? And what's your reason for that?" The hat asked.

"Seven years with that blonde Ponce as a house mate? I'll go insane before the first year is even over!"

The hat was silent for a few seconds before breaking out in a huge laughter.

"Yes...yes, I understand. So...no Slytherin and no Ravenclaw. Hmm... it's difficult even with only two houses left to choose...but your boldness is slightly overpowering your sense of loyalty. I've made my choice. GRYFFINDOR!" Harry would later find out that he was the third Hat stall in modern Hogwarts history, after Professor McGonagall and a certain rat named Peter Pettigrew, because the sorting lasted over five minutes.

He walked shakily to the house of the Brave and sat down beside George- or was it Fred?- Weasley. He was finally free from Privet Drive for at least nine months!

A/N: Whoa...a new story, you think? But no, it's The Headmaster's Apprentice 2.0. You'll recognise some feature from my old story but much will be new content.

This story will have some Harry and Ginny romance.

An eventual sequel that will cover year 4-6 will (probably) add two new girls. But not in this story that will cover Harry's 1-3 year.

As always looking for a beta reader for my story. And now a bonus feature!

Omake:

The Sorting Hat covered Draco Malfoy's eyes and the torture...sorting began.

"Gryffindor"

"You stupid hat! How dare you think of sorting a Malfoy, the the purest of the purest Pure-Blood into Gryffindork!-" And the hat suffered through a minute of tirade.

"If not Gryffindor... there is only a place for you in Hufflepuff," Draco completely missed the amused tone in its voice.

"...Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!," The young Malfoy began to sound wilder and wilder. The hat began to worry that the young Malfoy would suffer a heart attack. But the worry turned to annoyance when Draco began a two minutes tirade of why Hufflepuff was home to "the weak and the nearly squibs and the blood-traitors and so on and so one.

The hat showed mercy only when the Malfoy scion nearly began to cry under it.


	2. The Sorting ends and first day

Chapter 2: The Sorting ends and first day.

Albus Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled as he looked at all the new students that had just been sorted. He looked forward to watch all their progress, from miss Abbott in Hufflepuff to Blaise Zabini in Slytherin. His sight travelled to the Gryffindor table and his smile grew when he saw Harry Potter snickering with the disastrous Weasley twins. Was this the beginning of a new Marauder era? Albus glanced to his right and allowed a tiny smirk pass his mouth. Both Severus and Minerva had problems keeping their faces neutral.

Albus drew his attention back to Harry and was alarmed when the small boy suddenly looked as if he was in pain. Dumbledore noticed that Harry asked the twins about something and pointed discretely at both Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell. Albus also noticed that the two Professors spent a little too much attention on Harry.

Severus was no problem. Albus knew that the Potions professor would do anything to keep the boy of James and Lily safe. But Quirrell on the other hand... the former Muggle Studies professor had changed too much after his vacation in Albania. And now he was pretty sure that the stuttering professor was using legilimency on the Gryffindor student. Or was he just a little to paranoid about Quirrell? Albus made a mental note to keep his eyes on the DADA professor so that none of his precious students would get hurt.

He looked around the hall and noticed that every students had finished eating... with the sole exception of the newest Weasley addition in Gryffindor. Albus got to his feet and the hall fell silent. He stared at the Gryffindor table but Ronald Weasley continued his feasting. Fred Weasley elbowed his brother causing the younger red-head to yelp out a "Bloody hell!" before he realized that he alone was keeping the Headmaster from continuing.

"Ahem... just a few words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all witches and wizards. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," Albus looked at George and Fred causing them to salute him. He paused for a second before continuing.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, our esteemed caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Madam Hooch."

Albus paused again. Here he had originally planned to warn about the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side... but that would only motivate certain students to seek out the dangers. So he skipped that bit and jumped right to his favourite part of this day.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" he cried out happily. He noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. Except for Professor Flitwick, of course. The tiny professor shared Albus love of music after all.

Albus gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words.

"Everyone pick your favourite tone, "Albus cheered, "and of we go!"

And the school happily bellowed:

 _Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

 _Teach us something please,_

 _Whether we be old and bald_

 _Or young with scabby knees,_

 _Or heads could do with filling_

 _With some interesting stuff,_

 _For now they're bare and full of air,_

 _Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

 _So teach us things worth knowing,_

 _Bring back what we've forgot,_

 _Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

 _And learn until our brains all rot!"_

Albus laughed merrily when the Weasley twins were left alone singing along to a very slow funeral march.

"Ah, music!" he said, wiping his slightly wet eyes, "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, it's time for us all to shut our eyes. Off you trot." All the prefects were quickly on their feet and showed all the new students their new home for seven years.

Albus sat down again and waited until everyone, except for Severus, were gone. The pale man looked even paler than usual which caused Albus to worry greatly. Severus opened his mouth but snapped it shut when Albus raised his hand. This was surely a conversation that required absolutely privacy. His most loyal companion, Fawkes the phoenix, appeared in an explosion of fire. Both of the adults grabbed a feather and they were suddenly gone from the great hall.

 **-]I[-**

Severus Snape slumped down on one of the comfortable armchairs in Albus' office. The headmaster sat down behind his desk and opened one of the drawer. The drawer was of course magical and thus much deeper than a non-magical. So he summoned the fifty year old Blishen Firewhisky, one of the finest Firewhisky he had in his collection, with both a wandless and nonverbal summoning spell. He also grabbed two glasses and filled them generously with the old Blishen.

Severus emptied the glass in a single gulp and quickly requested a refill. This time the old bat took time to taste the burning liquor.

"Was it that bad?" The headmaster asked with a defeated tone. The constant twinkle in his blue eyes and they showed all his one hundred and nine years.

Bad? Snape grimaced. It was much more than bad. Ten years sleeping in a fucking cupboard. Snape made a note in his head to remind him to show Petunia, his dear old neighbour, what a dark wizard could do. But the cupboard was not the worst memories that Severus found in Harry's mind. Years of mental abuse mixed in with the occasional physical punishment. They had also forced him to do choirs since the first day the he showed any magi, which was on the day he turned four years old. Severus saw that the disgusting muggles had forced Harry to work harder than a dark pureblood family would work their house-elf.

All that plus the fact that they had underfed Harry constantly had resulted in a horrendous childhood. Much worse that Severus' own. Albus cleared his throat and Severus jumped in his armchair. Albus tilted his head forward a few inches and Severus nodded. The old man entered his younger colleague's head and Severus guided him to the memories Severus had seen. Watching the memories was not easier a second time and a third glass of Firewhisky quickly found its way to his stomach.

His head swam slightly after three glasses of the strong whisky. A quick word and a house-elf appeared with a loud crack in the office. The small worker grabbed the potion master's right hand and Snape found himself in his bed ten minutes later. He spent the whole night awake crafting several plans to keep James and Lilly's child alive.

 **-]I[-**

Albus' hands shook violently so violently that he had to grab his desk to steady himself. It had been over fifty years since the last time Dumbledore threw a fit. But now it took all his worldwide known patience to not march over to Privet Drive and severely injury the Dursleys'.

He'd always thought he'd made the right decision to leave the orphan baby with Lily Potter's sister. But his mind was full of doubts now. Was the blood wards that he'd created important enough to allow Harry to stay with his abusers?

How could this tiny boy so much potential despite the abuse? Or maybe it was because of the abuse? Or maybe it was because he was the child of a strong wizard and a strong witch? So many questions and no answers. But one thing he had sensed during the sorting was that Harry's potential was already up there with the third-years...maybe even the fourth-years. He'd not sensed magic that strong in a first-year since a young Tom Riddle...

It was too early to take on Harry as an apprentice but Albus had a feeling... the old headmaster sighed and looked longingly at his now half full bottle of Firewhisky. But he was the headmaster and he'd a feeling that his deputy headmistress would publicly chew him off he appeared drunk at the breakfast.

 **-]I[-**

"There, look!"

"Where?"

"Next to the red haired twins!"

"Did you see his face?"

"Did you see his scar?"

Harry groaned in frustration as he sat down with George and Fred to eat his first breakfast in the ancient castle. A plate full with sausages, bacon and other tasteful stuff appeared in front of him. Harry grabbed a fork and began to take out his frustration on the poor sausages. Both twins grinned amusedly at Harry.

"Mr. Potter, here is your schedule," Professor McGonagall passed him a piece of paper and walked away to the next Gryffindor student. There was no classes the first day since it was a Sunday. Harry looked at Monday and noticed that his first class was Herbology with the 'puffs.

"Not a bad start-" Fred began with a mouth full of eggs.

"Herbology...bit boring, but-" George continued the twin-speak.

"You have at least no snarky Snape until Friday!" Fred finished with a large gulp of pumpkin juice. Harry frowned. He didn't like the most popular juice according of most young wizards and witches. A glass full of orange juice suddenly appeared in front of him. _Much, much better_ Harry thought with a small grin.

Ron graced the trio with his presence half an hour later. He sat down heavily beside Harry and a gigantic plate full of everything a young, hungry Englishman could wish for appeared in front of the half wake Weasley. He grunted something to Harry and then something else to his brothers and immediately began to wolf down his food. Harry winced in disgust. He'd thought that the twins was messy food eaters, but they had nothing on their little brother.

He lasted ten minutes beside Ron before Harry decided to flee the battlefield in front of him. He and Neville left the hall together and walked to the Gryffindor common room. Neville admitted that he loved working with plants and agreed to teach Harry the basics of Herbology. Harry then spent the rest of his day between being destroyed by Ron in wizard's chess and reading ahead in some of his books.

 _Not a bad first day_ Harry thought while trying to fall asleep. He'd made some friends in his house and he'd read ahead in his schoolbooks. And absolutely no Dursleys' at all. Harry's future was bright for the first time in his life.

A/N: 1 September 1991 was a Sunday so I went with it in this story. Some more changes from my first story but no big changes. Many thanks to Vaend and tony91 for their reviews.

Still unbetaed version since I'm still looking for at least one beta reader.


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